A group of Australian parliamentarians has written to the British government calling for an independent assessment to ensure the safety and well-being of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange if he is extradited to the US on charges of disclosing military secrets. I pleaded. cable.
The parliamentary letter to UK Home Secretary James Cleverley was written by Andrew Wilkie MP (Independent), MP and co-convener of Australia's 'Bring Julian Assange Home' parliamentary group; Signed. Bridget Archer, Liberal. Labour's Josh Wilson and Green Party senator David Shoebridge.
The letter cites the UK Supreme Court's 2023 judgment in AAA v Secretary of State for the Home Office, which states that UK courts cannot rely solely on third-party guarantees by a foreign government and risk risk of persecution against its nationals. must be evaluated independently.before being ordered to leave the UK
“This reasoning clearly relates directly to the extradition proceedings regarding Julian Assange and the joint judgment of Justice Barnett and Justice Holroyd in United States v. Assange,” the letter said. “In that case, their Lordships were clearly relying on US 'guarantees' as to Mr Assange's safety and welfare should he be extradited to the US for imprisonment and trial. These assurances have not been verified. There was no evidence that they were given an independent assessment of the basis on which they could be relied upon. ”
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A group of Australian MPs has written to the UK Home Secretary, James Cleverley, asking him to halt the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the US. (Getty)
Assange has been charged by the US government with 17 counts of receiving, possessing, and transmitting classified information under the Espionage Act and one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. There is. A final legal challenge to block extradition from the UK to the US will be heard at the High Court in London on February 20 and 21.
If Mr. Assange is extradited to the United States after exhausting all legal appeals, he could stand trial in Alexandria, Virginia, and be sentenced to up to 175 years in a maximum-security prison in the United States.
“This is literally a life-or-death scenario for Julian,” Assange's brother, Gabriel Shipton, told FOX News Digital. “If he loses his case in a British court next month, he could be extradited to the United States within 24 hours. [Expert] Witness testimony and a British judge found that it ultimately led to his death. This prosecution is not in the interest of justice or to protect the interests of the United States. It is clear to everyone that Julian's persecution is a terrible revenge plot by those whose criminal activities have been exposed by his work. It's time for sober thinking to prevail and to put an end to this disastrous endeavor. ”
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Assange's British lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, previously said she feared Assange “would not survive if extradited to the United States”.
The Australian journalist has been held in London's high-security Belmarsh Prison since April 11, 2019, when he was expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy for breaching his bail conditions. He had applied for asylum at the embassy since 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden on charges of raping two women. Sweden has not provided any guarantees to protect him from extradition to the United States. The investigation into the sexual assault charges was ultimately closed.
“Mr Assange is an Australian citizen who has been incarcerated at Belmarsh Prison since April 2019. This is a very serious concern for us as elected representatives.” Australian MPs wrote.
“All parties want a resolution,” British High Commissioner to Australia Vicky Tredell told Australian Broadcasting Corporation Radio on Tuesday.
Greg Burns SC, an adviser to Australia's Assange campaign, told Fox News Digital: “We welcome this statement from the High Commissioner, as it follows the letter from Australian MPs to Home Secretary James Cleverley. That's what I want from the High Commissioner.” “We call on the UK government to support this resolution by working with the Australian and US governments to immediately end the case against Julian Assange.”
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A parliamentary letter to UK Home Secretary James Cleverley has been signed by the co-convener of Australia's group of MPs to bring Julian Assange home. (Getty)
The Trump administration is over WikiLeaks' 2010 release of leaked cables by U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning detailing war crimes committed by the U.S. government in Iraq, Afghanistan and Cuba's Guantanamo Bay detention center. , accused Assange. The document also exposes cases of CIA torture and coercion.
WikiLeaks' “collateral murder” video, which showed U.S. forces shooting civilians in Iraq, including two Reuters journalists, was also released 14 years ago.
The parliamentary letter was released after a bipartisan delegation of Australian lawmakers visited Washington DC last year and met with US officials, members of Congress and civil rights groups to demand the charges against Mr Assange be dropped. Last year also saw several bipartisan efforts by U.S. lawmakers demanding Assange's freedom.
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Last year, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also repeatedly called on the United States to stop prosecuting Assange.
“Both the Australian Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have publicly stated that Mr Assange's case has dragged on for too long,” the parliamentary letter said. “This is a position we wholeheartedly agree with.”
Until Assange, no publisher had been charged under the Espionage Act, but many press freedom groups argue that his prosecution sets a dangerous precedent aimed at criminalizing journalism. . U.S. prosecutors and Assange's critics have argued that WikiLeaks' release of classified material endangers the lives of U.S. allies, but there is no evidence that releasing the documents would put anyone at risk. do not have.
Editors and publishers of U.S. and European news organizations who helped publish excerpts from more than 250,000 documents obtained by Mr. Assange in the Cablegate leaks: The Guardian, The New York Times, Le Monde , Der Spiegel, El Pais — wrote an open letter In 2022, he called on the US to drop the charges against Assange.
The Obama administration decided not to prosecute Assange in 2013 over WikiLeaks' publication of classified documents in 2010. This is because journalists at major news organizations who published the same material also needed to be prosecuted. In January 2017, former President Barack Obama commuted Manning's 35-year sentence to seven years for violating the Espionage Act and other crimes. Manning, who had been imprisoned since 2010, was released later that year.
Australian delegation meets with US officials, members of Congress to demand freedom for Julian Assange
Julian Assange could be sentenced to up to 175 years in a maximum security prison in the United States. (FOX News Digital/Landon Mion)
former president trump Ministry of Justice The Biden administration has since moved to indict Assange under the Espionage Act, and continues to prosecute him.
A letter to the UK Home Secretary said: “We are deeply concerned that the legal proceedings involving Mr Assange will continue, first in the UK and then in the US, if extradition is ordered and agreed. There it is written. “This will likely keep Mr. Assange in custody for many more years and further put his health at risk.”
“To this end, we call for an urgent, thorough, and independent assessment of the risks to Mr. Assange's health and welfare if he is extradited to the United States.” “Consistent with the AAA's decision, such an independent investigation would include a detailed assessment of the risks to Mr. Assange's health, life, and welfare from prolonged detention in one or more high-security U.S. detention facilities. It seems to us that consideration should be included.
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under Trump administration, In 2021, Yahoo reported that the CIA was allegedly plotting to kill Assange over the release of the agency's secret hacking tools known as Vault 7, which the agency called “the largest attack in CIA history.” Yahoo reported that it represents “data loss.” He is said to have spoken out at the “highest levels” of the administration about the plot to assassinate Assange in London, and to have acted under orders from then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo to produce “sketches” and “options” for the killing. .
Yahoo reported that the CIA was also planning to kidnap and extradite Assange and had made a political decision to prosecute him.
WikiLeaks also released internal communications between the Democratic National Committee and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016, revealing the DNC's efforts to boost Clinton in that year's Democratic primaries. .
